The Spank in that link is pretty sweet! Definitely a good setup. With a frame designed for DJ, it's hard to go wrong.

Definitely single speed. If you want to ride it on singletrack, a front brake is a good idea, but if this will mostly be a park/pump track bike, a rear brake will be plenty. I rarely see bmx or DJ bikes with a front brake.

I ride a 20" bmx and a 26" DJ. I've tried rigid on the DJ but I definitely prefer suspension. 100mm or less. You really don't need much travel, and I prefer less because it keeps the front end and bottom bracket lower, which improves handling when you're railing through berms. If I was picking out a new fork for mine, I'd go 80mm travel with the shortest axle-to-crown length possible.

That being said, that Spank frame may have a specific fork length in mind, in which case, go with that.

i purchased a used jackal w/ pike, put a 9 speed casette and front and rear brakes on it, and it's been super fun at the bmx track in santa clara, pleasanton bmx park, water dog, t-rancho, and even riding to get groceries. i have a setback seatpost that comes up pretty high for pedalling, and i slam it down when at the bmx park, so it has been fairly flexible for me.

What Dirt Love said. Single speed, short travel fork, only need rear brake. I wouldn't try and make this bike "versitile" for riding single track too - that's what your other bikes are for. This one should be for the pump track, the jumps, and some street riding.

How about buying a 26" DJ frame and run 24" tires until he's fully grown up?

Coming from BMX freestyle (flatland) background, I can tell you it is a whole lot easier to learn manual, bunnyhop, etc with smaller wheels, especially if your kid isn't grown up to adult size yet. It will be a lot less frustrating for him. Once he learns on 24", it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt the skills to 26".

Originally Posted by dth656

i know that santa cruz is having a clearance on their website, and their jackal frame (size short or small) is pretty cheap...

I bought the last red one the other day. Replacing my super-heavy '07 Ruckus DJ frame

24" wheels, big enough to be a MTB, small enough to make him feel he is on a BMX.

Dirt cheap at Chainreaction Cycles, like 200$.

Magura rim brakes, both front and rear. Put the front through the headtube.

I have one myself, and love it dearly.

Magura

That's a nice frame. I was looking at that a while ago and talking to FireEye about it and the Shortfuse 380. One reason I decided to go to look at the Jackal was due to having the disc brake mount move with the dropout, keeping a fixed geometry. It's not necessary though, just a "perk". Just note, I haven't bought a frame yet, it's a very low priority for me, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

I also wanted to add that everyone needs practice at a pump track, bmx track. Hop off curbs properly and build some ramps at home. This is the difference for him as he is now very comfortable in the air and on berms.

Just get the kid a 20" BMX bike if that's what he wants. It'll be much more fun riding around the neighborhood and just practicing skills on a smaller scale. He'll have more opportunity to develop bike handling skills without relying on you to take him to Calabazas (or wherever). And when he hops back on his 26" MTB to go on a trail ride, his bike handling skills should be sufficient to smoke his dad on the downhill sections.

He's only 12 YO and not fully grown... there's really no reason for 26" wheels, or 24" for that matter. If he can ride a pumptrack on a 20, he'll have no problem on a 26er. The opposite would not be true though.

No front brake. No disk brakes. No suspension fork. Just a cheap complete BMX. Fit BMX has some good completes for under $500. Fit Bmx Bikes

Just get the kid a 20" BMX bike if that's what he wants. It'll be much more fun riding around the neighborhood and just practicing skills on a smaller scale. He'll have more opportunity to develop bike handling skills without relying on you to take him to Calabazas (or wherever). And when he hops back on his 26" MTB to go on a trail ride, his bike handling skills should be sufficient to smoke his dad on the downhill sections.

He's only 12 YO and not fully grown... there's really no reason for 26" wheels, or 24" for that matter. If he can ride a pumptrack on a 20, he'll have no problem on a 26er. The opposite would not be true though.

No front brake. No disk brakes. No suspension fork. Just a cheap complete BMX. Fit BMX has some good completes for under $500. Fit Bmx Bikes

This. I have a Yeti DJ and love it, but because I'm old (read injured too often), I ride it with gears and a 100mm fork. If I was younger and healed better, I would definitely consider a BMX 20" or a BMX cruiser 24". But when you're young and adaptable, definitely go with the BMX. His skills will get dialed in much better.

I like having the front brake. It doesn't add that much weight, and you can practice stuff like this. It is an absolutely useless skill, but teenage girls will probably get impressed if he did that in school parking lot

I used to be able to do this without the front brake on a freestyle bike, but not on a 26" bike.

I too would second the BMX because I'm willing to bet most BMX riders would be proficient on a MTB and I won't bet on it the other way around.

Growing up riding BMX has paid HUGE dividends for MTB'ing (I still ride BMX by the way). I can still bunnyhop to wall ride, fakie tree rides, feeble grinds, etc. but I mostly ride flatland (ground tricks). The biggest advantage is learning how to save yourself from crashing, because in BMX, you constantly fall.

This can-can pic and the hop-to-wall-ride was taken when I was 13; pool carving from when I was 14. The fakie was when I was 15. Having that BMX second nature in you really helps in MTB'ing. By the age of 16, I was riding at very high level of BMX (for those days) and we were doing handrails and very advance flatland tricks.

Francis, get the kid a BMX bike. They are light, simple, and really teach the basics. We used to do 5-6ft. drops on our BMX bikes, and we rode everything, from street, flatland, vert, park, pools, dirt, etc. all on one bike. Our bikes were very heavy, like 35lbs.

BMX has made a huge difference in my riding, for being a relatively new'ish MTB rider. The climbing fitness of it is my biggest barrier, but bike handling isn't as much of an issue with me as it is for some at my level of riding.

I too would second the BMX because I'm willing to bet most BMX riders would be proficient on a MTB and I won't bet on it the other way around.

Interesting. I think most bmx and dirt jumpers are great at bike handling since they work on it for hundreds of hours. I've been hanging around Calabasas and the good guys coach each other after segment! Most mountain bikers invest zero time in becoming better bike handlers.

I'm still leaning dirt jump bike since I have a massive array of mtb stuff and I get a discount. I have no contacts on BMX. But I may end up with both (for the both of us) and we'll see what gets ridden the most.

His future is definitely mtb and we are going to Whissler next year!!!

Froride1 and I had a talk about this yesterday, and my theory is that many MTB'ers are looking at the climbing/fitness/endurance aspect of the sport - sticking to fireroads and killing KOM's and such. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you lose sight of a very important aspect of riding.

I have a lot of work to do on my climbing speed (at least I'm not dead last like before), but I really enjoy having the bike handling skills - makes up for what I'm not so good at.

In Santa Cruz, there was a guy trying to do a basic rock walk on his mountain bike, and he couldn't quite get it. Quietly, I said, "Oh, is this what you're trying to do?" and I did a rock walk. The guys were SO impressed, but I was thinking I learned how to do those when I was 12

DJ bike is cool, homie. A lot of kids his age are riding them. You guys should hit up Lake Cunningham when you get them built.

If you guys do look at BMX bikes, unlike before, you can get them in different sizes. Top tube length is pretty much the only difference, but with the massive handlebars and sweet BMX geometry, straddling a 20" isn't much different than standing over a small DJ bike.

Froride1 and I had a talk about this yesterday, and my theory is that many MTB'ers are looking at the climbing/fitness/endurance aspect of the sport - sticking to fireroads and killing KOM's and such. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but you lose sight of a very important aspect of riding. ...

Yup, I have learned more about bike handling in the last 6 months compared to my last 12 years of riding. Most mountain bikers like me have never had a bike handling lesson. Most never get advice, seek advice on how to corner or do a drop. We can ride fast downhill but often with bad or wrong technique. Riders just get real good at doing the wrong thing.

That's why it is my mission in the coming year to get everyone to take a lesson, whether formal or informal.

I can now ride around the our whole block without a single pedal stroke. The neigbors think I'm a weirdo but they just ignorant.

A lot of learning happens on the bmx or pump track as well. If we only have an indoor mtb park, everyone will have an environment to learn.

Anyway, we'll look to you, Roger and the gang to get some advice once we get our bikes.

Yup, I have learned more about bike handling in the last 6 months compared to my last 12 years of riding. Most mountain bikers like me have never had a bike handling lesson. Most never get advice, seek advice on how to corner or do a drop. We can ride fast downhill but often with bad or wrong technique. Riders just get real good at doing the wrong thing.

That's why it is my mission in the coming year to get everyone to take a lesson, whether formal or informal.

I can now ride around the our whole block without a single pedal stroke. The neigbors think I'm a weirdo but they just ignorant.

A lot of learning happens on the bmx or pump track as well. If we only have an indoor mtb park, everyone will have an environment to learn.

Anyway, we'll look to you, Roger and the gang to get some advice once we get our bikes.

I'm not like most, in that regard, I want to learn but finding how to learn is hard. That information is just not out there. There are no real classes I've seen on pumptracks and jumping. I think this thread has me looking at BMX bikes now, for tooling around and trying to learn how to do urban stuff.

I don't have enough practice, and when I try to do stuff on my MTB, my timing is off and I crash. It hurts alot when you're going 20+mph and you endo on a jump. People that know how to do this stuff always say "trust your bike" and "get enough speed". I tell em, trust me, it's more than just the bike. I just "trusted my bike" and I ended up with a full on digger and a damn near broken jaw.